Lawmaker: Give returning OFWs red-carpet welcome

To give overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) the importance they deserve for the sacrifice they are making for their families and the enormous impact that their dollar remittances have on the country’s economy, Rep. Joselito Atienza of Buhay party-list has filed House Resolution 1735.

The resolution urges the Bureau of Immigration and airport authorities to immediately provide special red carpet lanes in the country’s international airports for all OFWs coming home for a vacation or for good, starting this Christmas.

Atienza, in a statement on Thursday, noted that “our OFWs often have to endure long work hours and being away from their families for years on end just to save enough money to regularly send to their families back home for their everyday needs.”

“Now that the Christmas season is here, most of our OFWs will be coming home to spend it with their families while others are coming home for good,” the lawmaker, a former mayor of Manila, said.

“It is but fitting for the government to treat the returning migrant workers accordingly with these special red carpet lanes and assisted by specially-designated Immigration and Customs officials to facilitate their arrival without hassles,” Atienza added.